A Book That is Very Me... And One That’s Not by Lucy Felthouse
First, thanks to Giselle for having me here – what a fantastic topic for a series of guest posts!
So... which of my books has rather a lot of me in and has sold very little?
That would be Reindeer Games: Cupid. It’s a paranormal erotic romance published by Secret Cravings Publishing. I know it’s a seasonal title, but I hoped it would do well around the holiday season because it’s Christmassy, it’s got Santa in it, and shifter books have been selling incredibly well for some time now. But it’s hardly done anything, sadly.
It’s a good story, I really enjoyed writing it. Clearly, I’m not a man or a reindeer shifter, but the story is set at a house that looks extraordinarily like mine, with a street that looks like mine, and a main character that bears more than a passing resemblance to my postman. It’s also got bits and pieces in it that are very “me” like mentions of Cadbury’s chocolate...
So... yeah, there you have it. This lovely book that I’m very proud of has barely cracked double digits sales-wise. Boo.
As for a title that’s not so me and is more fiction, well that would be Mean Girls. It’s part of Ellora’s Cave’s Curve Appeal range of books, and other than the fact the main character is female and not skinny, there’s nothing of me in this at all. The main character, Adele, is a Rubenesque chick that is super fit and healthy as she goes swimming regularly (I’m not, and I don’t). She also parts owns a pub/restaurant and is Head Chef (I don’t own anything and I hate cooking). She has a crush on the lifeguard at her local leisure centre (well, show me a hunky lifeguard and I’ll have a crush...) and it turns out, he likes her, too.
I loved writing this book because I like writing about very real situations, real-feeling people, and so on. Poor Adele is bullied because of her weight, and hunky lifeguard Oliver can’t stand by and let that happen.
So, this utterly fictional book with nothing of me in it has sold really well (hurrah!), which has naturally made me very, very happy. It seems it struck a chord with people, women I suspect who could identify with Adele.
This topic is exactly why I just write what I want, rather than trying to figure out what readers want, what will sell well, and so on. Sadly, in the writing business there are just no guarantees—so I’m sticking to writing books I want to write, that I’ll enjoy writing. And hopefully, just hopefully, somebody will buy them!
Happy Reading,
Lucy x
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Blurb for Reindeer Games: Cupid:
As a postman by day, and one of Santa’s reindeer on a single very special night, Cassius Cupid eats, sleeps, and breathes deliveries. He doesn’t mind, but sometimes wishes that someone would send him something more exciting than bills and junk mail.
One cold January morning, Cassius gets his wish. A young woman arrives with a parcel. Turns out it’s for his housemate – but Cassius doesn’t care. All he’s interested in is Carina – the beautiful female courier.
Has Cupid finally met his match?
More info, excerpt and buy links:
http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/cupid/
Blurb for Mean Girls:
Adele Blackthorne is a big girl, a curvy chick. She knows it, and she’s been picked on all her life because of it. But she’s gotten to the stage where she doesn’t care. She may be Rubenesque, but she’s healthy, too. Much healthier than the mean girls at the leisure center that point and stare and say spiteful things about her. Adele rises above it all, and simply enjoys her secretive glances at the center’s hunky lifeguard, Oliver.
As the bullying of Adele becomes worse, Oliver finds it increasingly difficult not to intervene. He doesn’t want to get into trouble with work, but equally he can’t stand to see Adele treated in such a horrible way. Especially since he doesn’t agree that she’s fat and unattractive. He thinks she’s a seriously sexy woman, and would like to get to know her better. Much better.
More info, excerpt and buy links:
http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/mean-girls/
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Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over 100 publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women's Erotica 2013 and Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small publishing house. She owns Erotica For All, and is book editor for Cliterati. Find out more at
http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at:
http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
